it is still hot in sydney. not as hot as melbourne or adelaide, but consistently hot. it feels like it’s been weeks now that i’ve been using the heat as a reason for not working that effectively. it’s a bit of a tiring excuse these days. today i wondered how i managed to live so long on a tropical island, but then i remembered that i worked and socialised a lot less and with much less speed or urgency.

today we rested our hot bodies in the park; amongst the growing forest we found a few patches of grass, and laid out our spread. i invented what i now call ‘ricotta pie’ as my contribution:

line a cake tin with a sheet of puff pastry. as haphazardly as you like.

bake it in the oven till almost golden.

in a bowl, mix:

• half a big tub of ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 3 chopped spring onions
• 3 chopped mushrooms
• a chopped capsicum
• a couple of handfuls of rocket
• a tablespoon of capers
• salt and pepper

(really, you can add any vegetable you like, this is what was in the fridge today)

when that’s all mixed together pour it into the baked pastry case and put it back in the over. bake until set (about 40 minutes at 180).

i cooled it in the fridge before we ate it – i think it needs to keep setting when it cools. so so tasty though!